let me switch gears a little bit and ask you about chuck hagel as somebody who was in the cabinet and who knows what the confirmation process is like. what do you make of how this has been going? >> this is incredible. i was confirmed by the senate twice as u.n. ambassador, secretary of energy, and usually here is the differences. national security team, secretary of state or defense, are generally confirmed without any opposition. this has been a tradition with presidents. in the hagel case, look, it is important the question on policy and i know senator hagel was questioned on israel, on iran. i think that's legitimate, but some senators went as far as getting personal and not just personal but unsubstantiated charges on the floor of the senate in hearings. that's never happened. i think that's a function of a tea party that is still a major player within the republican party circles and i don't think the republican's strategy is to stop them. so that's unfortunate, and that's going to mean more problems for further cabinet nominees that the president still hasn't sent up and just t